PEACH WEEKENDER

Theater: Troupe to present reading at museum

5/22/2014
BY SUE BRICKEY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
  • Art-Pic-2-jpg

    From left, John Duvall, Paul Causman, and Bill Quinlan rehearse at the Toledo Museum of Art for a staged reading of the award-winning drama ‘Art’ at 7 p.m. May 29 in the museum's Little Theater. Admission is free.

    TODD MICHAELS

  • From left, John Duvall, Paul Causman, and Bill Quinlan rehearse at the Toledo Museum of Art for a staged reading of the award-winning drama ‘Art’ at 7 p.m. May 29 in the museum's Little Theater. Admission is free.
    From left, John Duvall, Paul Causman, and Bill Quinlan rehearse at the Toledo Museum of Art for a staged reading of the award-winning drama ‘Art’ at 7 p.m. May 29 in the museum's Little Theater. Admission is free.

    Actors Collaborative Toledo’s latest performance will be right at home with the other creative works in the Toledo Museum of Art. The group is presenting a staged reading of the award-winning drama Art in conjunction with TMA Thursday, a weekly museum event with diverse programming. The performance will be at 7 p.m. May 29 in the museum's Little Theater. Admission is free.

    Written by Yasmina Reza and translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton, Art won the 1998 Tony Award for best play.

    The Actors Collaborative performance, directed by Barbara Barkan, features Paul Causman as Marc, John DuVall as Serge, and Bill Quinlan as Yvan.

    Art has serious themes but an undercurrent of humor. The story begins when Serge, a modern art aficionado, buys a totally white painting. The painting kicks off a debate among Serge and two friends, Marc and Yvan, about its merits as a work of art. That conversation quickly evolves into a wider, sometimes heated, and pointedly personal discussion of their relationship.

    “Suddenly now, the piece of art has changed the way they look at each other, and how they value each other, and how they re-evaluate their friendship,” Barkan said.

    She was drawn to Art because it is a good fit with the museum — it speaks the language of its members.

    And there is the age-old question, what is art? Some people look at a work of art and think, my kid could do that in kindergarten; but others see a masterpiece. The play is a reflection of how people perceive art, and what they think it really is.

    “Art raises some interesting questions and some interesting dialogue between friends who suddenly [find] their friendship is challenged over a piece of art,” Barkan said.

     

    The McGhee brothers, Tracey and Johnny, aka the Jitterbugs, were instrumental in the Jit dance craze, the subject of a new documentary.
    The McGhee brothers, Tracey and Johnny, aka the Jitterbugs, were instrumental in the Jit dance craze, the subject of a new documentary.

    Dancing in Detroit

    The documentary film Jitterbugs: Pioneers of the Jit, produced by Detroit dancer and filmmaker Haleem “Stringz” Rasul, will have its premiere at 7 p.m. Friday in the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., as part of the museum’s Friday Night Live! series.

    There will be a reception at 6 p.m.

    The Jit is a dance craze created in Detroit that first became popular in the 1970s and ’80s. The evening will include performances by original members of the Jitterbugs, the creators of Jit, as well as live music and dancing by contemporary Jit groups.

    The event is free with museum admission. Information: 313-833-7900 and dia.org.

    Theater League

    Season tickets for the Theater League’s 2014-2015 Broadway in Toledo series are on sale now. Shows include Camelot, Oct. 23-26; The Book of Mormon, Dec. 16-21; Sister Act, April 8-12, and Once, May 5-10. The special engagement is Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jan. 23-24.

    Season tickets, which start at $130 for the four shows, can be purchased at theaterleague.com, by calling 419-381-8851, or at the box office at 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd.

    Send theater news to Sue Brickey at sbrickey@theblade.com two weeks in advance of the event.